


chanhee's castle

by lovestruc



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Castles, Established Relationship, Fluff, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27946517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovestruc/pseuds/lovestruc
Summary: while looking for a place to stay the night, jaeyoon and rowoon find an abandoned castle. however, the castle is not as abandoned as it seems.
Relationships: Kim Seokwoo | Rowoon/Lee Jaeyoon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	chanhee's castle

**Author's Note:**

> hi. i know it seems like i've been gone for a bit, and a lot has happened.   
> but for now, i have this and i'm quite proud of it.   
> a warning before you read, this contains references to the murder of a child. while it is not discussed in detail, it is still there. please do not read this if that is a form of trigger for you.  
> if you are still here,  
> enjoy.

"It's getting dark, we should find shelter for the night." 

Jaeyoon pulled on his horse's reins, halting them where they stood. 

"Are there any towns nearby?" Jaeyoon turned to look at Rowoon, who was surveying his map and the surroundings. 

"No, the nearest one is a few hours of travel away. We don't have that time."

Jaeyoon peered into the distance, seeing the outline of a castle against the orange sky. 

"What about that castle? What do you know of it?"

Rowoon looked up from his map, confusion painting his face.

"What castle? I do not remember that being there."

"Maybe you missed it as you were surveying."

"With all due respect, I would not have missed a structure with such mass. I surveyed the land for days to create my map, I would have marked the castle if it was there."

"I doubt a castle of that size would be built in the span of a few months. However, we do need shelter for the night."

"What if it's inhabited by a dark magic user? It would explain the sudden appearance of the castle."

"We don't have much of a choice. Besides, we'd overpower them with the two of us." 

"I see. Then, we should stay the night there."

Jaeyoon nodded, whipping the reins of his horse and heading towards the castle, Rowoon right besides him. 

They rode into the castle, Rowoon quickly hopping off his horse and slamming the wooden doors of the castle shut.

"I believe we are safe now. The castle seems to be abandoned."

"That wouldn't make sense if it wasn't here before." 

"I do not know. Whatever it is, I promise to protect you, my love." 

Jaeyoon and Rowoon shared a chaste kiss before Rowoon pulled away to go tie their horses up, as Jaeyoon took in his surroundings.

There was a large staircase in front of them, with a stained glass mural on the wall behind it. The place was dimly lit by torches on the walls. The castle was filled with dust and spiderwebs, showing that it had been uninhabited for years, maybe even decades. 

All of these signs puzzled Jaeyoon further. 

"Maybe we should look around, see if there are signs of life here." 

Rowoon drew his sword, slowly walking up the stairs as Jaeyoon followed behind him. Noises echoed around them, but they couldn't identify what the noises were.

Rowoon carefully pushed open a door on his right, leading with his sword as Jaeyoon watched their backs. 

A candle on a small desk was lit, making Jaeyoon point it out to Rowoon. 

Jaeyoon picked up the journal that was on the desk, reading it out loud.

"My husband has slowly gone insane. I can never-" Jaeyoon quickly raised his head from the journal as a noise sounded from around them, both Rowoon and Jaeyoon looking around for anything that could have caused the sound.

"My husband has slowly gone insane. I can never forgive him for killing our own son, no matter how much I loved him. He is no longer the man I once loved. The guilt has driven him insane and I fear what will become of me if I stay here. Our family has been broken and I only wish for my son back. I cannot stay here, or I may be driven to the same insanity of my husband. I will never see my son again, and I hope to never see my husband again. That man is dead to me."

Rowoon and Jaeyoon looked at each other, setting the journal down on the desk. 

"So the father…"

"Killed his own son."

Rowoon looked around again, seeing a mess of papers in a corner of the library. He rushed over to them, picking them up and showing them to Jaeyoon.

"They're letters."

"They must be to the father."

Jaeyoon read over the letter he was holding, slowly becoming more sad for the mother he was reading about.

  
  
  


_ My Dearest Husband, _

_ I cannot go on like this any longer. As you read this, I am fleeing far away from you and the town. I cannot live in a home where I am reminded of my dear son every day, and how you ripped him from my life. This is unforgivable.  _

_ I loved little Chanhee with all of my heart, and to know that you do not care about our son's life at all hurts me in indescribable ways.  _

_ You have become unbearable to be around, taking out your guilt on me when you know that this affects me more than it affects you. _

_ I cannot stay with you any longer. You ripped my beloved child out of my arms and expect me to forgive you for it. I simply cannot.  _

_ Goodbye. _

_ Lady Kang _

  
  
  


Jaeyoon handed the letter to Rowoon, who read it over before looking at Jaeyoon for what they should do next.

"I can't fathom being in her position. Her own husband killing their son, it must have been devasting."

"I truly feel sorry for her."

Their condolences for the woman were cut short by a voice from the darkness outside the library door.

"Eomma?"

Jaeyoon and Rowoon froze, Jaeyoon putting the letter down as Rowoon kept his sword drawn. 

"It sounds like a young child. Put your sword away, you'll scare them."

"I cannot. What if it is a malevolent spirit trying to fool us? I just wish to keep you safe."

Jaeyoon glared at his husband, before pushing open the door to a room across from the library.

"It's some sort of kid's room."

Jaeyoon stepped into the room, looking around at the painted angels on the walls and children's toys scattered around the room.

They heard a sound behind them and turned around quickly, Rowoon's sword slicing whatever was behind them.

A small ghost boy fell to the floor with a thump, starting to cry.

"Eomma!! This big scary man hurt me, I want my eomma!" 

Jaeyoon cooed, pushing Rowoon out of the way to hold the ghost boy in his arms. 

"Shh, it's okay. Don't cry, I'm here."

The ghost hugged Jaeyoon tighter, crying into his coat. 

"I'm Jaeyoon, and the big scary man who didn't mean to hurt you is Rowoon. Do you have a name, sweetie?"

"C-Chanhee." 

Rowoon and Jaeyoon shared a knowing look, recognizing the name from the letter.

The ghost looked no older than the age of six or seven, his skin a pale white and hair a light grey. Despite his ghostly appearance, Jaeyoon found him absolutely adorable. 

"Why are you all alone in this castle, Chanhee?"

"It's a long story." Chanhee sniffled, looking up at Jaeyoon.

"We have all of the time in the world, sweetie." Jaeyoon lifted Chanhee up and sat on the bed in the room with Chanhee in his lap, not minding the dust that got on his pants. 

"I've been in my castle for as long as I can remember. But I've never only been like this for so long. I remember that I made appa mad at me, and he pushed me off his balcony and into the garden. When I woke up, I was like this. Then eomma left and appa left after her. I didn't want eomma to leave, I love eomma! Because I miss eomma, I've been moving the castle to try to find her. Maybe if she sees the castle, she'll come back for me!"

Jaeyoon smiled as Chanhee calmed down and started acting happier, feeling happy that the ghost child was still somewhat happy after years of being alone.

"Well, we're going to spend the night here, Chanhee. Is that okay?" 

"Don't tell me you're going to leave! Please don't leave, I don't want to be alone again! I'm sorry if I scared you, I just want to be with someone again. I want to be in a home again."

"Isn't this your home?"

"No, it's just my castle. It's not home because I'm all alone without eomma or anyone. It doesn't feel like home."

Jaeyoon sighed, lifting Chanhee off of his lap.

"Is it okay if Rowoon and I go talk for a second? I promise we'll come back, okay?"

"Okay… Just please come back?"

"I promise I'll come back, Chanhee."

Jaeyoon pulled Rowoon out into the hall and down the stairs.

"We have to take him with us, Rowoon."

"I don't know. I can't fully trust that spectre, no matter how much I feel sorry for it."

"Seokwoo..."

"I know you probably feel attached to him, but I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong here."

"Can you at least attempt to trust him?"

"I can't. I just wish to keep you safe, Jaeyoon. I can't trust anyone besides you. As much as I feel for it, being an orphan myself, your safety is most important to me. We can't take it back with us. We can stay here for the night and leave it in the morning."

"We can't do that, Seokwoo. As much as I love you, I can't leave that poor boy here to be alone again. If you leave, I will stay here."

"Why are you so attached to it?"

"Because I'll never have the chance to have my own child. I've always wanted to have a child with you, Seokwoo. This is as close as we're going to get, why would we leave him here? Not only are we able to take in a child as our own, we're saving him from being alone for the rest of eternity. Think about that, Seokwoo. If we leave him here, he'll be here for the rest of eternity, in a dark, abandoned castle where his father killed him."

"As much as I feel bad for him, I want you to be safe."

"He is safe! Seokwoo, I know that he is who he says he is. He's just a scared ghost child who doesn't want to be alone. Are you really going to leave him here?"

"I… don't know. Maybe if I spend some more time with him, and get some answers to questions I have, I'll see what you see in him."

"Thank you for trying, Seokwoo."

Jaeyoon and Rowoon intertwined their hands as they walked back to Chanhee's room, finding the ghost laying on his bed.

"You're back! I thought you guys left, you were out there for a while."

"Of course we didn't leave, I promised that we'd come back. Didn't I?"

Jaeyoon sat on Chanhee's bed, holding the spirit's hand.

"I didn't know. People have promised me that they'd come back but then left me alone again. I hoped you wouldn't be one, since you've been so nice to me."

"People have told you they were coming back and then left?"

"Yes, they did. They were nice to me, then told me they had to do something and never came back. Everyone who comes in here never lets me go with them, they always try to hurt me or leave when I don't see them. I don't mean to scare them, I promise! I just don't want to be alone."

"I can't believe that people would do such a thing."

Jaeyoon hugged Chanhee to his chest, as the ghost got visibly sad.

"Chanhee, I was wondering about something."

Jaeyoon looked down at Rowoon, who was crouched down in front of Chanhee's bed so he didn't scare the poor ghost child.

"It seems like you really wish to leave the castle, have you tried to leave before?

"Well, I haven't tried to leave because no one wanted me to go with them. Everyone who's ever been in here has been afraid of me or tried to hurt me. I could never talk to them without them running away or trying to kill me again. I just want someone to be nice to me, I want someone to want me to come with them. But I feel so lonely up here because whenever someone enters my castle, they always leave. So I just stay here in my castle. I still want to find my eomma, so I moved the castle. I always took the castle with me because it won't leave, it'll always come with me if I want it to."

"Even though the castle isn't home to you, you still find comfort in it?"

"The castle won't leave me like a person would. It comforts me because there's no one around to comfort me."

Jaeyoon hugged Chanhee tighter, feeling sorry for the small ghost. He wanted nothing more than to take Chanhee as his own child, to give him a home and someone who would comfort him and spend time when him whenever he needs or wants to be with someone.

Jaeyoon knew that he could provide that to him, but only if Rowoon allowed him too. 

"Jaeyoon, love, can we speak in the hall?"

Jaeyoon looked up from Chanhee to Rowoon, who was standing near the door.

He gently laid Chanhee back down on the bed, reassuring the small ghost that they would be coming back.

He walked out into the hall with Rowoon, walking down part of the stairs so Chanhee couldn't hear their conversation.

"I should apologize. I know how much having children means to you, and I now see why you're so attached to Chanhee. I shouldn't have been suspicious of him, he really is just a child like you said he is."

"Don't apologise. I know you wanted to keep me safe, and that means a lot. I just hope that you've seen that Chanhee just needs a home, and I wish it to be with us."

"I wish for it to be with us too. I don't know his exact feelings, but the feelings of being abandoned as a child… I would never wish them on anybody."

"Will we be bringing him back with us?"

Rowoon smiled, taking Jaeyoon's hands in his.

"I see nothing else we could do."

"Thank you, love. I love you so, don't you know that?"

"I love you too. Now, let's go back to Chanhee, to tell him that he's going with us in the morning."

The two husband's quickly walked back to Chanhee's room, the ghost currently sitting on his bed, holding an old, tattered teddy bear in his hands.

"Chanhee, we decided that we'll be leaving in the morning."

The ghost looked up, his lips forming a pout. 

"W-without me?"

"Of course not! Chanhee, we want you to come with us, to our home."

The ghost visibly perked up, standing from his bed. 

"I'm going with you?"

"Yes, Chanhee."

Chanhee rushed into Jaeyoon's arms, hugging him tightly. 

"Thank you, Jaeyoon hyung. I'm so happy, I finally get to leave my castle and go home!"

Jaeyoon hugged him back, both of them feeling a third pair of arms joining the hug in the form of Rowoon.

"I hope you'll be happy with us, Chanhee."

Chanhee parted from the hug, looking up at Jaeyoon with the brightest smile on his face.

"I'm going to be so happy with you, Jaeyoon hyung!"

Jaeyoon cooed, holding Chanhee against his chest.

"We can't wait to have you in our home, Chanhee."


End file.
